Lavender's Blue
by autumndawnp23
Summary: A fluffy, young Klaine fic.


Author's note: Hi! Thank you for choosing to read my fanfic. I just wanted to inform you that this is a Klaine fanfic taking place in the 1920s. Kurt and his friends are at a young age in this fanfic. There won't be any creepy children smut in here, but Kurt may kiss Blaine's cheek towards the ending of this fanfic (Not it this chapter though). The writing in the beginning of this chapter isn't as well as the ending of it. So please bear with me. I have intentions to finish this fanfic by the spring months. This idea is not my own. My sister has helped me with the general idea, because of a dream.

Kurt was sitting on a stool, waiting to be fitted for his suit. His parents were throwing another ball, and Kurt had to have a new suit for each ball. The last suit he had was white, along with a black bow tie. Now, from the material he sees around the room, it looks like his suit will be black. The pants will probably be just black, made out of an odd material imported from some random country, and he will most likely where a white button up underneath the blazer, with a bow tie.

The tailor walks into the room. She has brown hair, tightly wrapped into a bun behind her head. She has arched eyebrows, and stiff lips coated in red lipstick. She wears a plain black dress that tightens around her knees. Her high heels make an echo in the large room. The tailor pulls her measuring tape from around her neck and holds it out to Kurt.

Kurt stands up and holds his arms out. Kurt stands about 4 and a 3 inches tall. He is a little bit taller than average people his age, which is seven. Kurt has a slim figure. The tailor measures Kurt's torso for his blazer. She walks over to her pile of materials, and pulls out already cut material for his blazer.

"Just the right measurements as I thought," she mumbles, she slings her measuring tape around her neck, and walks over to Kurt on the stool. She holds out the material and starts pinning places together. Soon the tailor is done, and leaves to sew the blazer. Kurt hops off the stool, and sits down on it again. He has to stay in the room, so when the tailor comes back in fifteen minutes he can try on the blazer to see if it fits and looks good on him.

Kurt gets up and walks around the room looking at the patterns in the walls. He always does this when he has to have a suit tailored. There are so much patterns on the vast amount of walls that he never runs out of patterns to look at. The patterns are gold against an off white wall. Most of the patterns are floral patterns, but there are animals scattered in the pattern. Kurt sees a patch of patterns that catches his eyes. There are rabbits and daisies scattered around where Kurt is looking. The rabbits are either hopping about, or munching on the daisies. Kurt leans in closer to the rabbits. He looks at their expressions. He enjoys the expressions of the animals on the wall. Most of them look happy. Kurt steps back from the wall to see the rabbits all together. From what it looks like, it seems like a family. There is a father rabbit who is watching over his family of rabbits, a mother rabbit who is eating the daisies, and a brother rabbit who is leaping over the daisies in excitement, and a sister rabbit who is looking at a daisy. Kurt hears a twist of a door knob, and he returns to his seat.

The tailor comes back with his blazer in her hands. Kurt stands up in his seat ready for the tailor to have him try on his blazer. His shoes against the leather seat makes a squeak, which makes the tailor looks up at him sharply. Kurt looks at her apologetically. The tailor puts the blazer on him. When the blazer is on him, Kurt holds out his arms again. The tailor walks around him with her hand to her chin as she scrutinizes him. Kurt's face flushes out of nervousness under her harsh stare. She slowly walks around him. Between each time she sets each foot down, there is probably a good five seconds. After she circles him around fully, she takes off Kurt's blazer and drapes it over her arm.

"I am done," she says sternly. She waits for Kurt to step off the stool. When Kurt gets off she quickly pulls the stool over to the side where it belongs. She puts her materials in the drawers on the other side of the room. She turns quickly and walks out of the room. The door closes softly behind her. Kurt walks to the window to procrastinate time a little bit, so when he walks out of the room he won't have to run into the tailor.

He stares out the window at the gardens below. It was May and the light shown on the flowers beautifully. There are carnations, baby's breath, willow trees, and other matching flowers in the garden. There used to be a barn there, but one time he said (not meaning for anything to happen) that he wished that there were a garden there instead of the barn. His parents automatically granted his wishes and had the barn torn down, rebuilt the barn in the backyard, and the garden planted within just a few days. The garden was much better there, but he didn't like how much he was favored. He would have felt better if it would have taken a month for his parents to act on it, but it was absurd that they did it all within a few days.

His parents had so much money they didn't know what to do with it. They were rich because his father owns a car repair shop. There weren't too many people with cars, but the people who did have them were rich. Cars messed up all the time, so his father got plenty of business and earned a lot of money from it. His parents usually held a ball every month, sometimes more often, depending on events, to do something with their extra money. His birthday was coming up so his parents were usually busy with planning. They always threw a huge ball and invited everyone wealthy within the state on his birthday. There would be a ball the night before his birthday for the public. On his birthday there was a celebration during the afternoon outside in the yard for anyone with a specific invitation, which were mostly wealthy people and family members, but his parents would make exceptions for friends, which he didn't have much of. Lastly, a ball during the night after his birthday for only wealthy people. Kurt always enjoyed the celebration on his birthday the best. He likes going outside where he isn't trapped inside the ballroom. Plus, it isn't just wealthy people, sometimes a friend was there.

Kurt would have a fitting tomorrow and the next day after that. A suit for each ball or celebration. His blazer that had been fitted today would probably be for the first night, because he usually wore something less fancy on the first night so the less wealthy people attending won't feel so bad. This was a suggestion from his mother. It may sound snobby of her to say, but she said it with only good intentions. Kurt usually wore light colors and didn't wear a blazer on his birthday celebration. The ball the night after his birthday he usually wears a fancy blazer with a matching outfit to impress the wealthy people attending that night. Kurt tries to avoid most people during these parties. At the balls he enjoys his time by humming and dancing with the music. At the last birthday celebratory night, he plays a song on the piano and sings. His father told Kurt to do this one year because he wanted him to impress the wealthy people. Burt, his father, was so impressed by Kurt that he made it annual. Kurt had singing and piano lessons for the ball later today. Kurt always enjoyed singing much better than piano, but piano has been more fun lately because of his new music tutor.

Kurt looked down at the garden and noticed his mother walking through it. She sat down on a bench underneath the willow trees. She had fair skin with brown hair that had been pulled loosely into a fashioned bun. She has a model cupid bow. Her upper lip is slightly plump and her bottom lip is round. Her mouth is always curved into a smile. She always wears a coat of lipstick, on most cases, like today, she wears a light shade of pink. Kurt's nose is like his mother's, except her nose is slightly thinner. She has a low, soft set of cheekbones with a hint of rosy blush. She has bright and large, light green eyes.. Here eyebrows are thin and have the same shape as Kurt's eyebrows. Curls hang down her forehead that were too short to be part of the bun. Longer curls were pulled from her bun and rested on her shoulders. She had a simple, yet extravagant dress. It was a pale rose color with detailed lace fashioned around the neck, the cuffs, and the hem of the dress. She wore a large round hat that was a light sandy color that had ribbons draping off to the side. She looked around the garden and admired it. She saw a row of ducklings pass by. Unlike most wealthy women who would yell at the maids or butlers to get rid of them, she enjoyed watching them and talked to them softly. When the ducklings wandered away, Kurt's mother, Elizabeth, looked up to the window Kurt was looking out of. He waved at his mother enthusiastically, and she smiled and waved back. Kurt stood there for a little while longer then left the room.

…

Kurt went down the kitchen to get an apple to give his music tutor. His mother insisted for him to give him an apple every lesson they had together. When Kurt saw the bowl of apples, he picked the brightest and largest apple. He shined the apple on his coat. The kitchen maids were rushing around the kitchen, almost running him over. Kurt dodged around the bodies and exited the kitchen safely. He ran up the white marble staircase up to the common room on the second floor. The piano sits in the corner, with his piano teacher, Mr. Schuester, sitting on the bench. He wore a black tail coat, with a vest underneath. Underneath his vest, he wore a white button up with a black tie. He had a black top hat set on the bench. His curly, dark honey blonde hair was slicked to his head. He always tried to make his hair less curly by slicking it back, but he rarely makes a difference. He turns his head around to face Kurt when he walks in. He smiles widely and pats the seat next to him. Kurt walked over and handed the apple to him.

"Thank you, Kurt. How do you do?" asks Mr. Schuester, accepting the apple.

"I'm doing well. Especially since it is music lessons," says Kurt sitting down. Mr. Schuester chuckles quietly to himself. Mr. Schuester was a handsome man with dimples.

"So, let's practice for your solo. First, piano, then we'll practice singing. Today, I'm hoping we'll be able to put the two together at the end," Mr. Schuester said grabbing a piece of sheet music. It was the song Kurt has been practicing for two months, _Lavender's Blue_. It's sometimes referred to as _Diddle Diddle_ or, _The King's Lovers_ , but Kurt and Mr. Schuester both liked _Lavender's Blue_ much better, so that's what they call it. It was a bit challenging for Kurt to play, but it was fun. He messed up only a few times, but quickly fixed his mistakes.

"You did marvelous! I'm certain you will be outstanding during the performance. Now, let us see if your voice is as ready as your piano skills," says Mr. Schuester.

Mr. Schuester and Kurt both stand up. Kurt pushes the piano bench over to the side of the piano, out of the way. Then he takes a few steps back, still facing the piano. Mr. Schuester clears his voice and stands next to the piano facing Kurt.

"Firstly, voice warm ups, then we start singing. Secondly, do you know the lyrics to _Lavender's Blue_?" Mr. Schuester asks.

"Yes, I've been practicing it ever since we picked it out together. It's one of my favorites," Kurt says smiling.

"Excellent. Now, let's start."

Kurt starts his warm ups. He dreads singing the low notes, which Mr. Schuester makes him sing because 'it will help him have a wide vocal range'. Kurt enjoys singing the higher notes, though. He sings the notes with much ease. When he finishes his warm ups, Kurt sings the song. Mr. Schuester plays the piano as he sings. Kurt doesn't make any mistakes. He practices singing for a half hour.

"Beautiful, Kurt. We are going to practice both the piano and the singing together now," says Mr. Schuester.

Kurt starts practicing the song. He makes mistakes here and there, but overall, he did well. He practiced for an hour, but the hour flew by quickly, since he was having so much fun.

"You did excellent today, as always," says Mr. Schuester rising from the bench.

"Thank you," says Kurt while standing up as well. Mr. Schuester starts gathering his papers, "Do you need help, Mr. Schuster?"

"I'm fine, thank you," Says Mr. Schuster smiling. Kurt walks out of the room and carries on with the day. His parents are planning for the parties, so Kurt had a free day. Kurt enjoys free days. He liked other days, but free days were such a treat. On usual days he would do all of the 'rich' stuff. Playing croquet with business men and their sons, shopping, riding ponies, etc. Today, Kurt decided that he wanted to visit the barn.

Kurt went upstairs to his room. His walls were white with a dark brown trim. His floor is dark wood with a dark patterned rug. His bed sat in the corner of the room. It was like any other typical bed, except there were more pillows, and a canopy hung over his bed. A white trunk sat at the end of the bed. Stuffed animals were on the trunk. Akin, the bear; Elmina, the rabbit; and Brasen the dog. A desk made out of the same wood as his trunk sat in the corner below his bed. Papers and ink were stacked neatly in the corner. A rocking chair with white cushions sat in the corner opposite of the bed. It was for his mother to sit in when she read him a night story. A shelf with fairytales sat on the wall above the chair. A chandelier hung high in between the end of his bed and the rocking chair. On the other side of the room sat a table with tea cups and tea pots. Kurt had a few stuffed animals sitting in the chairs. An elephant, giraffe, and a sheep sat in in the chairs. Arnold, the giraffe, held a tea cup in his hands. Stuart, the elephant, was hunched over a tea cup. Ella, the sheep, had the tea pot next to her. Kurt went to his trunk and grabbed Brasen, then walked over to his desk with him tucked under his arm and wrote:

Going out to the barn- Kurt

He takes the note to his mother's room and put it on her desk. Kurt bends over to take a sniff of the perfume bottle on her desk. It smells like roses and lavender. Kurt lifts up the bottle and spritzes his wrists. He only uses a little, because he doesn't want anyone to notice he's wearing perfume. He especially doesn't want his dad to find out. He smells his wrists for a brief second and leaves the room. Kurt goes down another floor to his wardrobe. He opens the large wooden doors. It's the same room he has his fittings in. Kurt walks to the end of the room, places Brasen on the floor while opens his wardrobe for outside clothes. He grabs a long tweed coat, a white peter pan collar, and dark brown pants. He walks over to where he keeps his shoes, and he chooses tall, black boots. Kurt then grabs his clothes and Brasen and walks over behind a changing curtain. The changing curtain is gold to match the patterns on the walls. When Kurt is finished he leaves his old clothes in a hamper that is behind the curtain. Kurt walks over to a mirror against the wall and adjusts his outfit a little bit. He quickly brushes his hair with his fingers, smoothing it out a little.

Kurt then goes outside to the barn with Brasen on his shoulders. The barn is pale green with vines growing on it. The barn is 3 stories high. The first story has the animals. The second story has the supplies. The third story has the hay. The animals they have in the barn are: ponies, cows, pigs, and a goat. Outside of the barn they have a pasture for sheep, and a pond for the ducks. In the barn, Kurt's favorite animal to see is the goat. The goat's name is Damel.

Kurt went over to Damel and pulled up a stool that you milked cows with. He sat down on it with Brasen on his lap and started talking.

"How are you today?" asked Kurt. Damel bleated in response.

"I had my first fitting for my birthday celebrations today. It's just a plain black and white suit. I'll try showing you it sometime. It's for the first ball. I wonder what my outfit will look like for the other celebrations. I'm really hoping I get to wear light colors. I usually end up wearing dark colors. I also hope that I get to go shopping for bow ties. I want to try a new bow tie shop called _Anderson's Bow Ties_. I hear it's a family business. Maybe I can get you a bow tie to match with mine," Kurt says giggling. Damel bleats loudly, shaking his head, which makes Kurt laugh even more. When the laughter dies out there is a couple moments silence before Kurt can think of what else to tell Damel.

"Oh, and today in music I sang and played piano at the same time to _Lavender's Blue_. Mr. Schuester really liked it. I really hope that I don't mess up at the ball. If I have a little bit more practice, I think I'll be able to perform well," Kurt says petting Damel now. They are like that for a while. Kurt stands up, leaving Brasen on the stool.

"I'm going to go see if everyone else is doing okay," Kurt says as he starts to walk over to the cows. He pats them on the sides and greets them. He goes to each one and says hi to them by name. After saying hi, he goes over to the pig pen and bends down to say hi. He has a little conversation to them about how they were special pigs. He pointed out how they each were special. Just before he got up to go to the ponies, he bopped the closest pig on the nose. When he went to the ponies, he brushed their manes and tails, while he talked about fashion. When he finished, he grabbed Brasen and placed the stool in the center of the barn. He stood on it and started singing _Lavender's Blue_.

 _Lavender's blue, diddle diddle_ _ **  
**_ _Lavender's green,_ _ **  
**_ _When I am king, diddle diddle_ _ **  
**_ _You shall be queen._ _ ****_

 _Lavender's green, diddle diddle_ _ **  
**_ _Lavender's blue,_ _ **  
**_ _You must love me, diddle diddle_ _ **  
**_ _'Cause I love you._

 _ ****_ _Down in the vale, diddle diddle_ _ **  
**_ _Where flowers grow,_ _ **  
**_ _And the birds sing, diddle diddle_ _ **  
**_ _All in a row._ _ ****_

 _A brisk young man, diddle diddle_ _ **  
**_ _Met with a maid,_ _ **  
**_ _And laid her down, diddle diddle_ _ **  
**_ _Under the shade._ _ ****_

 _There they did play, diddle diddle_ _ **  
**_ _And kiss and court._ _ **  
**_ _All the fine day, diddle diddle_ _ **  
**_ _Making good sport._ _ ****_

 _I've heard them say, diddle diddle_ _ **  
**_ _Since I came hither_ _ **  
**_ _That you and I, diddle diddle_ _ **  
**_ _Might lie together._ _ ****_

 _Therefore be kind, diddle diddle_ _ **  
**_ _While here we lie,_ _ **  
**_ _And you will love, diddle diddle_ _ **  
**_ _My dog and I._ _ **  
**_At this Kurt held up Brasen and hugged him to his chest. _ **  
**_ _For you and I, diddle diddle_ _ **  
**_ _Now all are one,_ _ **  
**_ _And we will lie, diddle diddle_ _ **  
**_ _No more alone._ _ ****_

 _Lavender's blue, diddle diddle_ _ **  
**_ _Lavender's green,_ _ **  
**_ _Let me be king, diddle diddle_ _ **  
**_ _You be the queen._ _ ****_

 _Lavender's green, diddle diddle_ _ **  
**_ _Lavender's blue,_ _ **  
**_ _You must love me, diddle diddle_ _ **  
**_ _'Cause I love you._

When the song ended he hopped off the stool and curtsied. Kurt walked over to Damel.

"That's the song I've been practicing," Kurt says to him. Damel seems to smile at Kurt. Kurt smiles back and pets him. There is a knock on the barn doorway. Kurt turns around to see Mrs. Jones, one of the maids.

"Your father would like to see you," says Mrs. Jones warmly. Kurt joins Mrs. Jones and walks out of the barn. Mrs. Jones walks him over to the planning room. This room is modeled to look like the ballroom, so Kurt's parents can plan balls in there and can envision how things will look like. Kurt's father, Burt, is at a desk set up at the head of the room over a pile of papers. Burt has an average body shape, but a little plump. He wore a plain black and white suit. His top hat sat on the table beside him. His face was round and red. He is smiling an open smile and his periwinkle blue eyes are crinkled in the corners. His greying hair is cut short. Kurt's mother is sitting next to him writing something. When Kurt walks in his father looks up.

"Hello Kurt, how are you?" asks his father.

"I'm doing fine, thank you," says Kurt. Kurt walks over to where his parents are. The door shuts behind him as Mrs. Jones walks out of the room.

"We were just planning your celebrations, and we thought you would want to help out, since it is _your_ birthday," says his father.

"I'd be happy to," says Kurt pulling up a chair in between his parents. It's warm and cozy between them. He looks on the paper his mother is writing on. Kurt sees drawings of food on the paper, and assumes it's about the catering.

"So, what do you want for cake? Remember, you can have three different cakes. One for each celebration," says his mother.

"Cheesecake," answers Kurt almost immediately.

"What kind of cheesecake?" asks his father. Kurt thinks for a moment. His favorites were white chocolate, strawberry, pumpkin, lemon, caramel pecan, and almond.

"I would like white chocolate for the first night, lemon for the second day, and caramel pecan for the next night," says Kurt looking at his dad for approval.

"Sounds good to me," says his father looking at his wife to write it down.

"White chocolate…, lemon…, and caramel pecan…," says his mother while writing it down.

"We have the basic catering done, so now to the invitations," says his mother with a cheery smile. This is Kurt's favorite part of the planning, because it's creative.

After about an hour of brainstorming, Kurt and his parents came up with an invitation idea. They only had invitations for the last two celebrations, since the first one was public. The invitation to the day party has a floral pattern along the edge of the paper, and the information in the middle of it. The paper was a peach shade. The writing is a flowing cursive. The invitation said: You are invited to Kurt Hummel's 6th Birthday Party!

Where: 415 Whitman Av. Lima, Ohio

When: May 20th

Time: 1 p.m.

R.S.V.P.

The next party invitation for the third celebration had a golden pattern. On the top of the card, it said _Kurt Hummel's Birthday Ball_. The writing was an off white. In the center of the card, where the information was, there was a white cutout. In the center of the white cutout, brown writing read:

Where: 415 Whitman Av. Lima, Ohio

When: May 21st

Time: 7 p.m.

R.S.V.P.

"Now, that we have the invitations planned out, can you go and get Mrs. Jones, and give her these invitations and tell her to make 40 copies of the day celebration and 70 for the evening one?" asks Kurt's father.

"Sure!" says Kurt excitedly. His favorite maid was Mrs. Jones, not only was she a good worker, but she was nice and made a point to say hello to Kurt every day. She also had a daughter named Mercedes, which was one of his few friends. Kurt scooted out from in between his parents and dashed out of the door to find Mrs. Jones. Kurt found her sweeping the common room on the second floor, after his music lessons. Mercedes was singing to her mother _Amazing Grace._ Kurt stood by the doorway to hear Mercedes sing for a little bit. Kurt walked in after a verse.

"Hi, Kurt," says Mercedes waving. Mercedes was dark skinned and was a little plump. She constantly smiles. Her dark hair is parted down the middle, which was usually pulled into a loose bun for fashion. She is wearing a bishop sleeved dress that is a lilac shade. The hem and collar of the dress have a floral pattern. She is wearing white socks that go up to her knees. She wore Mary Janes for shoes.

"Hello, Mercedes," said Kurt back, then turning to Mrs. Jones he said, "My dad asked me to ask you if you can make 40 copies of this," says Kurt handing the day invitation to Mrs. Jones, "and 70 copies of this," says Kurt handing her the other invitation.

"Sure thing," says Mrs. Jones taking the invitations, looking them over, "Mercedes, can you finish sweeping in here while I go and copy these? And when you finish, make sure you stay here in the room until I come back. I'll be back in a little bit, but for now finish sweeping and stay in here."

"Okay, mama," says Mercedes. Mrs. Jones walks out of the room quickly, and Mercedes picks up the broom and starts to sweep. Kurt stays there to talk with Mercedes.

"I'm planning to invite you to my party," says Kurt smiling. Mercedes chuckles.

"Thank you. I was hoping I'd be invited," says Mercedes, joking, because both of us know that she was going to be invited. We both laugh for a little.

"I've had one fitting so far, but that's for the first celebration. It's just a plain black and white suit. Do you know what you're going to wear yet?"

"I've known what I was going to wear ever since the beginning of the year!" says Mercedes laughing. I laugh, too. Mercedes continues talking, "I'm going to wear a black dress on the first night, and it's just plain. It has a flower on one of the sleeves. The day dress has a high neck, with pleats down the front. The dress is a navy blue. The sleeves are loose and are mid-sleeve. The dress goes a little bit below my knees, and I'll wear the same shoes I'm wearing now," we both look down to her worn out shoes.

"The dresses sound like they'll look really good on you. And those shoes match with everything, you're lucky," says Kurt, "Mercedes, do you want to have a tea party later today?"

"I'd be happy to," says Mercedes smiling.

"Maybe when your mother comes back you'll be able to come," says Kurt.

"I'll ask her," says Mercedes continuing to sweep.

"Want me to sweep?" asks Kurt moving towards the broom.

"No, I'm fine," Mercedes says while finishing the last corner. He get the dustpan which is sitting on the piano bench and goes to Mercedes. Kurt bends down to the dirt pile and sweeps up all of the dirt. At first Mercedes tries to stop him, but she stops. Kurt goes to a sack where the trash is kept, and dumps the dirt in.

"How is your practice going for _Lavender's Blue_?" Mercedes asks sitting down on the piano bench.

"It's going well. I know the whole song put together now. I think I'll be ready by the party," says Kurt. Mercedes nods.

"I can't wait to hear you sing that song," she says. After she says that her mother walks in.

"Hello, Kurt. I just notified some of the maids to start making the copies," Mrs. Jones says politely.

"Thank you," Kurt says.

"I'm going to be staying here late, so you can do anything as long as you stay in the house," says Mrs. Jones to Mercedes.

"Thank you, mama," says Mercedes hugging her mother.

Mrs. Jones leaves. Kurt and Mercedes decided that Mercedes would go and ask the butlers for water for the tea, and Kurt would set up the tea party.

…

Kurt goes over to his table and starts setting it up for the tea party. He goes to the bottom drawer of his dresser and opens it. He pulls out a metal lunch box. On it is labeled 'Emergency Snacks for Tea Parties'. Kurt's mother wrote this for him.

Kurt regularly changes the snacks in the lunch box, so they don't rot. He usually keeps tea bags, a few tiny sandwiches wrapped in plastic, tarts, and mini cheesecakes. Kurt brings the lunch box to the tea set on the table. Kurt assembles three small china plates and puts them in the center. He grabs a tiny bowl and places a few teabags inside of it. He places each food on a separate plate. Kurt takes the stuffed animals off of the chairs and place them on the ground around the chairs. Since there will be an open seat, Kurt places Brasen on a chair. For the party, Kurt takes off his coat and shoes, and places them in the corner. Kurt decides to take the rest of the stuffed animals on his trunk, and place them around the tea table to join him and Mercedes.

Mercedes walks in with a butler carrying a tea kettle with the hot water. They walk over to the tea table and the butler pours the water into the teapot. After Kurt thanks him, he walks out of the room. Kurt pulls out a seat for Mercedes to sit in. She sits down and blushes. Kurt then walks over to his seat and sits down. Kurt then remembers to pour the tea, and stands up again.

"Would you like tea?" Kurt asks Mercedes while picking up the teapot.

"Yes, I would," Mercedes says while pushing her tea cup forward. Kurt slowly pours the water into the cup and sets it down carefully, "Thank you, very much," says Mercedes.

"You're very welcome," says Kurt, picking up the teapot for his own tea. Kurt picks up the bowl of teabags and hands it to Mercedes. Mercedes picks a sweet tea.

"That's my favorite," says Kurt as he picks another teabag of the same kind. They put the teabags in their teacups and wait for the tea to settle.

"Tomorrow my papa and I are going to be spring cleaning my house. It's a little late, so we're calling it summer cleaning instead of spring cleaning. Papa is going to be cleaning downstairs, and I'm going to be in the attic dusting and going through things. My Mama has an old trunk with dresses and shoes in it from her and Granny. I hope I find another dress or shoes when I clean up there. I'm going to try to make the attic a place where we can play dress up," says Mercedes picking up a sandwich and eating it.

"I'd be happy to help set up the dress up area. For the next week I won't be able to help, but after this week, I will be available," Kurt says. They talk about plans for the dress up area for a little bit more, then they drink their tea. After her first sip, Mercedes looks around the table.

"Do you have any sugar I can put in this?" Mercedes asks.

"I think I may have some in Brasen's teacup," Kurt looks in the teacup and finds sugar, "Here you go, says Kurt handing the sugar and a spoon to Mercedes. Mercedes doesn't grab the spoon, and just pours some into her cup. After she sets down the teacup full of sugar, she grabs the spoon and stirs the sugar around her tea. She sips slowly at her tea and smiles satisfied.

"A whole lot better," says Mercedes laughing. Kurt laughs too.

…

The end of their tea party draws near as Kurt takes his last sip of his tea, and Mercedes takes her last bite of tarts. It has become late at night, and they both are very tired.

"I think my mama might be done with making the cards," says Mercedes yawning.

"I can walk you down to where she is if you would like," says Kurt standing up. He walks over to Mercedes's chair and pulls it out for her. Mercedes turns away to hide herself blushing. Kurt takes her arm in his and walks her down to the room where the maids are making the invitations.

When they arrive there, all of the maids are tired. Only a few of them are making invitations, while the rest are picking up.

"Hello, Kurt. Hello, sweetie," says Mrs. Jones pausing from sweeping to come over to Kurt and Mercedes.

"Hello, Mrs. Jones. We finished our tea party, and we decided that you were close to finishing, so we came down here, so Mercedes could go home," says Kurt unlinking arms with Mercedes.

"Thank you, Kurt. You are such a gentleman for walking Mercedes down here," says Mrs. Jones picking up the broom again.

"Thank you," says Kurt. He receives this compliment a lot.

"Now, what do you say to Kurt?" Mrs. Jones asks Mercedes.

"Thank you for the tea party," says Mercedes hugging Kurt.

"You're welcome. Thank you for joining me," says Kurt.

"If you want, you can go home. You don't have to sweep, Mrs. Jones," says Kurt.

"Thank you Kurt, but I don't mind sweeping," says Mrs. Jones in response.

"Go home and rest. You both are very tired. The sweeping doesn't have to be done tonight," says Kurt putting a hand on Mrs. Jones hand. She stops sweeping and looks up at Kurt.

"Like I said, quite the gentleman," Mrs. Jones's eyes crinkled in the corners as a warm smile stretched across her face. She put the broom the corner, "Come on Mercedes, let's go home. Thank you very much Kurt. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Kurt!" says Mercedes.

"Goodnight!" says Kurt waving at them.

When they leave Kurt walks over to where his parents last were, planning the party. They are still hunched over papers. When Kurt walks in they both look up. His mother stood up first, then his father. They walked over to him.

"We were just finishing for tonight," says his dad.

"Now, let us get you ready for bed," says his mother putting her arm around Kurt and bringing him out of the room. His father joins them and they all go upstairs together.

…

Kurt and his mother go to the bathroom to get ready for bed. Kurt's father goes to his own bathroom. When Kurt and his mother enter the bathroom, she starts the bath water and she puts soap in the bath.

"I'm going to go to your wardrobe in the next room to get your bed clothes, and then my wardrobe to get my bed clothes. You can get in the tub while I do that if you want. Just be careful not to drown," says Kurt's mother as she opens the door. She then leaves. Kurt undresses and carefully steps into the tub and sits down. The water rises around him, and he turns off the water, so it doesn't overflow. He sits there for a little while, then his mother knocks on the door, and opens it.

She had already changed into her bed dress and she carries Kurt's clothes in her right hand. The clothes she picked out for Kurt are a white, flowy silk shirt, and silk shorts to match his shirt. His mother's dress is a silky, long white bed dress. It was a flowy mid-sleeve, and had a high neckline. The dress was rather plain, which his mother liked.

"I'm going to put your clothes on this stool here," says Kurt's mother as she puts down the clothes on the stool. She sits down in front of the vanity and wipes her face free of makeup. Kurt likes it when his mother doesn't wear makeup. She doesn't wear much makeup to begin with, but she seems softer when she doesn't wear makeup. While his mother takes off her makeup, Kurt finishes his bath, and changes into his bedclothes. Kurt's mother takes out her hair and starts to brush it one hundred times. Kurt sits down on the stool and talks with her.

"How was your day today, Kurt?"

"It was fun! Mercedes and I had a tea party. She said that she wants to make her attic a place where we could play dress up. I'm excited for that," Kurt says enthusiastically.

"That sounds absolutely charming! I wouldn't mind setting up a date where we played dress up with Mrs. Jones and Mercedes in their attic. Your father and Mercedes's father could possibly read downstairs, or maybe talk. Maybe for Mercedes's birthday in a few months we can do that," says Kurt's mother, finishing her hair. She quickly braids it and stands up, "Come on, let's go to your room."

…

When they arrive in Kurt's room they find that his father is tidying up after the tea party. Kurt crawls into bed and his mother tucks him in. Kurt's father goes over to Kurt's bed and sits on the end. Kurt's mother reaches up to the shelf of books and pulls out a big fairytale book. She sits down in the rocking chair and opens the old book. She starts reading from _The Nightingale_. Kurt slowly drifts to sleep at the sound of his mother's voice.


End file.
